Quote:
Originally Posted by matt23mcg
So far Ive only 3 bet premiums JJ+, Aq+ maybe 1010 but I don't really understand the concept of 3 betting. At nl2 I got away with this but nl10 everyone seems to be 3bet happy. Do we need some 3 bet bluffs in our range to win more pre flop and get more action with premiums?
The short answer is YES, you need some balance, just as you should with post-flop bets. In any spot (pre or post) you have some hands that do best by raising and getting called (your value range), some hands that do best by calling (your mid-strength hands with showdown value), some hands that benefit greatly from fold equity, but that also have some hand equity when they get called ("semi-bluffs"), and some total air that you're looking to fold at the earliest opportunity.
If you divide your range into these 4 groups and play accordingly, then some balance will arise and that balance will help the EV of your value hands while also making your bluffs profitable.
To use 2 examples of 3-betting spots:
a) In position. If you're OTB vs MP, then you should use a somewhat polarized 3-betting range, where you 3-bet groups 1 and 3, but call with group 2. If you 3-bet QQ+/AK for value (planning to play for stacks), then hands like JJ-77, AQ, AJs, ATs, KQs, QJs, JTs form the medium strength 'group 2' hands that do well as calls. The next group of hands is slightly worse (A5s, A4s, 76s, 65s, KJs etc) so won't be very profitable as calls, but do well as semi-bluff 3-bets. "Semi-bluff" hands like A5s, 65s help to balance out the aces and kings. Even worse hands (group 4) just fold pre.
b) OOP in the SB vs CO. Here you can't profitably call many hands, so you should play almost your entire range as a 3-bet. You would use a linear range (weighted towards the top left of a hand matrix) tailored for what works best against your player pool. Something like [66+, A2s+, K9s+, QTs+, J9s+, T9s, AJo+, KQo] is 14%, but you could go looser or tighter according to what works best for your opponents.
Note that hands like TT/99 are clear calls in position, because they are in the middle (group 2) of your range, but they become 3-bets in the SB (where you 3-bet group 1, 2 and some of group 3) as you don't call much at all in that position.